National Clothesline

IFI will soon have its first woman treasurer and, in 2007, its first woman president. That’s the result of the election of Barbara Harvey, the current District 2 director, to the treasurer position at IFI’s board meeting in Baltimore in November.

The IFI treasurer serves a one-year term before becoming president elect for a year and then president the following year. Harvey’s term as treasurer will officially begin in June, but as treasurer-elect in the interim participate in IFI’s Finance Committee Meeting, which gathers prior to the spring board meeting to review the proposed budget for the new fiscal year beginning April 1.

The owner of Fabricare by Fran in Severna Park, MD, Harvey has represented District 2, which includes the MidAtlantic states, on the IFI board since 2002.

In addition to her service on the IFI board, she has worked on IFI’s Textile Analysis Peer Review Group and, until her election as a board member, was the District 2 representative on the District Committee advisory group. She also represented the drycleaning industry by testifying before Congress on the subject of contaminated soil clean-ups and regulatory reform.

For her efforts on behalf of the industry, she was honored at the 2001 Clean Show with IFI’s Meritorious Achievement Award for Positive Recognition of the Industry, which noted her work with the Operation Running Clean program and over two decades of participation with Coats for Kids. She also has served on the board of directors for the Coin Laundry Association of Maryland, including three terms as the association’s president, and is a past president of the MidAtlantic Association of Cleaners.

“I’m very excited, and I will certainly try to do the best job that I can as treasurer next year,” Harvey said. “I think IFI has been heading in the right direction financially under the direction of Bill Fisher, and I look forward to continuing success.”

Two new members will be elected to the IFI board this year and nominations for those positions are open until Feb. 15. The open seats are Districts 3, currently occupied by Gary Dawson who will become IFI president in June, and District 4, represented by Steven Poulos, the current treasurer who is slated to become president-elect this summer.

District 3 includes the states of Florida, Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina. District 4 includes Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. Each district has a nominating committee headed by the current director. Members who are interested in running or who want to nominate a candidate should contact the director for that district.